3 ms·

Yeah, I think the building you show is a pretty good example of what Twu would like to see: one big mass, made pretty with consoles, balconies and cornices. You

Yeah, I think the building you show is a pretty good example of what Twu would like to see: one big mass, made pretty with consoles, balconies and cornices. You can do a more modern style too, though. I especially like Persian-inspired modern brickwork [1] [2]. What do you consider to be the defining features of Stalinist architecture though? The Wikipedia page portrays it as more or less "whatever happened to be built during Stalin's reign, whatever the style". [1] https://www.yankodesign.com/2021/12/28/creative-brick-design-with-a-built-in-planter-turns-the-outer-facade-of-this-house-into-a-vertical-garden/ https://www.yankodesign.com/2021/12/28/creative-brick-design... [2] https://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/10/kahrizak-residential-housing-caat-studio-tehran-iran-perforated-brick-screens/ https://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/10/kahrizak-residential-housi...

paganel 3y ago
> What do you consider to be the defining features of Stalinist architecture though It's complicated because it has rarely been studied in an ideological-free manner (or not that I know of), so I'm basing my judgements mostly on what I've seen built around me from that era and by reading a couple of local architecture magazines back from those days, magazines that were actively putting forward said "stalinist" style. I'd say that this definition: "whatever happened to be built during Stalin's reign, whatever the style" is generally correct, with a small correction when it comes to the "whatever the style" part, as in it looks to me that there was some consistency in said style going from the mid-to-late 1930s to Stalin's death (in 1953), so that "whatever" part is a little forced. As per said style itself I don't know how best to define it, mostly neo-classical with intense tints of grandiloquence, for example this building from Bucharest, Casa Scânteii [1], is a very good example of that style (said building is a "scaled-down" replica of the Main building of the Moscow State University [2]). A good starting point could be this wikipedia page of a "stalinist" architect named Alexey Shchusev, the style that I'm talking about can be seen in his works going from about ~1935 to his death, so I wouldn't include the Constructivist period (which was in place throughout the '20s) as part of Stalinist architecture proper, but maybe that's just me. For those that know Romanian there's a recently published book about Shchusev called Alexey Shchusev, An Architect of the Imperial Russian Style [4], and by the same author I now see that there's a more general book on Stalinist architecture called Die Architektur Stalins [5], this one in German. Leter edit: There's also an English version of that book on Shchusev: Alexey Shchusev: Architect of Stalin's Empire Style [6] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_the_Free_Press https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_the_Free_Press [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_building_of_Moscow_State_University https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_building_of_Moscow_State_... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Shchusev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Shchusev [4] https://cartier.ro/libraria/arta/alexei-sciusev-un-arhitect-al-stilului-imperial-stalinist/ https://cartier.ro/libraria/arta/alexei-sciusev-un-arhitect-... [5] https://www.amazon.de/Die-Architektur-Stalins-Bd-Bilddokumentation/dp/3898215156 https://www.amazon.de/Die-Architektur-Stalins-Bd-Bilddokumen... [6] https://ribabooks.com/Alexey-Shchusev-Architect-of-Stalins-Empire-Style_9783869224749# https://ribabooks.com/Alexey-Shchusev-Architect-of-Stalins-E...
- stdbrouw 3y ago
  Thanks for taking the time to answer, fascinating!

paganel 3y ago

> What do you consider to be the defining features of Stalinist architecture though It's complicated because it has rarely been studied in an ideological-free manner (or not that I know of), so I'm basing my judgements mostly on what I've seen built around me from that era and by reading a couple of local architecture magazines back from those days, magazines that were actively putting forward said "stalinist" style. I'd say that this definition: "whatever happened to be built during Stalin's reign, whatever the style" is generally correct, with a small correction when it comes to the "whatever the style" part, as in it looks to me that there was some consistency in said style going from the mid-to-late 1930s to Stalin's death (in 1953), so that "whatever" part is a little forced. As per said style itself I don't know how best to define it, mostly neo-classical with intense tints of grandiloquence, for example this building from Bucharest, Casa Scânteii [1], is a very good example of that style (said building is a "scaled-down" replica of the Main building of the Moscow State University [2]). A good starting point could be this wikipedia page of a "stalinist" architect named Alexey Shchusev, the style that I'm talking about can be seen in his works going from about ~1935 to his death, so I wouldn't include the Constructivist period (which was in place throughout the '20s) as part of Stalinist architecture proper, but maybe that's just me. For those that know Romanian there's a recently published book about Shchusev called Alexey Shchusev, An Architect of the Imperial Russian Style [4], and by the same author I now see that there's a more general book on Stalinist architecture called Die Architektur Stalins [5], this one in German. Leter edit: There's also an English version of that book on Shchusev: Alexey Shchusev: Architect of Stalin's Empire Style [6] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_the_Free_Press https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_the_Free_Press [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_building_of_Moscow_State_University https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_building_of_Moscow_State_... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Shchusev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Shchusev [4] https://cartier.ro/libraria/arta/alexei-sciusev-un-arhitect-al-stilului-imperial-stalinist/ https://cartier.ro/libraria/arta/alexei-sciusev-un-arhitect-... [5] https://www.amazon.de/Die-Architektur-Stalins-Bd-Bilddokumentation/dp/3898215156 https://www.amazon.de/Die-Architektur-Stalins-Bd-Bilddokumen... [6] https://ribabooks.com/Alexey-Shchusev-Architect-of-Stalins-Empire-Style_9783869224749# https://ribabooks.com/Alexey-Shchusev-Architect-of-Stalins-E...

stdbrouw 3y ago
Thanks for taking the time to answer, fascinating!